NEW YORK -- Pro Football Hall of Famer Lawrence Taylor is being sued by the teenage girl he admitted having sex with in the case that led to his guilty plea to misdemeanor charges earlier this year.
Cristina Fierro filed suit in federal court in New York on Monday. She is seeking compensatory and punitive damages to be determined at trial.
Taylor was sentenced to six years' probation under a deal to plead guilty to sexual misconduct and patronizing an underage prostitute. The former New York Giants linebacker initially was charged with third-degree rape, among other counts. Fierro was 16 when the crime occurred in May 2010. She made a statement outside his sentencing hearing in March, saying Taylor deserved jail time.
"I feel as though he should be accountable for his crimes and misconduct toward me," Fierro said at a news conference Monday, flanked by lawyer Gloria Allred.
Taylor's lawyer, Arthur Aidala, said in a statement that because of the suit, Taylor and other witnesses "will have to reveal the rather disparaging truth about Ms. Fierro."
Allred said she believed this was the first time the federal Trafficking Victims Protection Act had been used to sue a buyer of commercial sex.
As part of the investigation that led to charges against Taylor, Rasheed Davis was sentenced to seven years in prison in August after pleading guilty to transporting a minor for paid sex. He isn't being sued. Allred said Davis could be added as a defendant, but she wouldn't address why Taylor was included in the suit while Davis wasn't.
The Associated Press doesn't normally publish the name of accusers in sexual-assault cases unless they agree to be named or publicly identify themselves, as Fierro has done.
Taylor also had to register as a sex offender under the plea deal. He was declared a low-risk offender in April, meaning there would be no photo of him on public online registries.
Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press
